3d Tube Map: ELL Addition
Time for an overhaul perhaps?
It's probably a good couple of years since I did anything with the whole 3d tube map thing and when I 'finished' it, there was always the huge glaring omission of the east london line...mostly because when I lived in Rugby I never used it whenever I visited London and knew nothing about it. Lazy? Pretty much...but then again it was only ever something I did while I was bored and unemployed.
So here's a quick-ish mock up of the map that came from a revised lower res version I made to use as part of an interactive flash model. That didn't quite work out because 1) I didn't/don't have any flash skills and 2) The models got horribly corrupted whenever I tried to import them into another program to make anything.
In a funny way I actually like this version more than the original one that used cylindrical tube lines. I think it looks cleaner with the flat edges and lack of glossy reflections that you get with rounded objects. I could either keep it like this or play around with the object properties on the rounded version to reflect less light. Additionally I'm not so sure about the jaggedness of the east london line. In reality it doesn't descend very far underground and it's more like a gradual descent which is harder to represent with only 45 degree angles; a series of steps represents it more 'accurately' but one big dip is more aesthetically pleasing. Decisions, decisions eh?
It's probably a good couple of years since I did anything with the whole 3d tube map thing and when I 'finished' it, there was always the huge glaring omission of the east london line...mostly because when I lived in Rugby I never used it whenever I visited London and knew nothing about it. Lazy? Pretty much...but then again it was only ever something I did while I was bored and unemployed.
So here's a quick-ish mock up of the map that came from a revised lower res version I made to use as part of an interactive flash model. That didn't quite work out because 1) I didn't/don't have any flash skills and 2) The models got horribly corrupted whenever I tried to import them into another program to make anything.
In a funny way I actually like this version more than the original one that used cylindrical tube lines. I think it looks cleaner with the flat edges and lack of glossy reflections that you get with rounded objects. I could either keep it like this or play around with the object properties on the rounded version to reflect less light. Additionally I'm not so sure about the jaggedness of the east london line. In reality it doesn't descend very far underground and it's more like a gradual descent which is harder to represent with only 45 degree angles; a series of steps represents it more 'accurately' but one big dip is more aesthetically pleasing. Decisions, decisions eh?
Comments
This is a great project, I'm surprised it didn't get more attention. I have been thinking about this for a while and came across your project whilst trawling the internet. how did you get the depth data? Also is it relative to ground level or sea level? Would really appreciate any information you have before I embark on the mission of finding it myself.
cheers,
hal
As for the depth information, TfL don't give that info out; lots of people have asked about that over the years. This map is essentially a blend of guesswork, a bit of hands-on research (riding the tube), and good old fashioned magic secrets. As is the case with the original diagrammatic map, which doesn't show proper geographical distances, this isn't intended to accurately show the depth; it's just a representation.
It's also a hybrid of the 2002 and a 2003 central portion of the tube map, primarily for aesthetic reasons to do with awkward interchanges that were brought in around '03. Specifically, I didn't like the revamped Earl's Court interchange so I used the old version.
I will eventually crack out my copy of Truespace and update this to reflect the current map, but unlike TfL, I won't leave out the river.